The 2018 grant application period has closed. Check back after Labor Day 2019 for the application for the next funding cycle.

The WHALE TAIL® grants support programs that teach California's children
and the general public to value and take action to improve the health of the state's marine and
coastal resources. Adopt-A-Beach® programs, as well as other beach maintenance and coastal
habitat restoration projects that have an educational component, are also eligible for these grants.
This grants program focuses on reaching communities that are currently poorly served in terms of
marine and coastal education.

2018 Application & Guidelines Packet

A webinar providing extra guidance on completing the grant application was offered
on October 10, 2018. A recording with slides from the webinar (including the Q & A
session) has been posted here.
To look at the PowerPoint presentation on your own, click here.

Photo: Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy

Funding

A total of $370,000 will be distributed in the 2018/19 grant cycle.
Applicants may request any amount up to $50,000, and 25-50% of the funding will be allocated
in small grants up to $12,000.

Categories

Projects may fall into the following categories: 1) shoreline cleanup and
enhancement programs (such as Adopt-A-Beach®); 2) youth education programs; 3) programs for
educating the general public. Applicants can also request funding under two special subcategories:
a) projects addressing climate change as it relates to the ocean or coastline; b) grants for
organizations with annual operating budgets of $500,000 or less, that are working with underserved communities.

Eligibility

Applicants may be either a non-profit organization, school or school district, or
a government entity. Projects funded by WHALE TAIL® grants must serve audiences in California.

Background

This program distributes funds from sales of the
WHALE TAIL® Coastal Protection
License Plate and from donations to the Protect
Our Coast and Oceans Fund listed on the California state tax form. The WHALE TAIL®
License Plate is an official "specialty" license plate issued by the
California Department of Motor Vehicles. Proceeds from the sales of the plates
benefit the California Coastal Commission's Adopt-A-Beach® Program, California
Coastal Cleanup Day and a wide variety of coastal and marine education projects
throughout the state. The Protect Our Coast and Oceans Fund is one of the "tax
check-off" funds listed on the California state tax form, offering taxpayers the
option to provide voluntary donations of any amount. Proceeds from contributions
to this fund specifically benefit the WHALE TAIL® Grants Program. Since the WHALE TAIL®
Grants Program began in 1998, it has awarded $12.8 million to nearly 700 projects.

Resources

WHALE TAIL® grants emphasize reaching underserved communities, so to help grantees
better serve them, we've been sponsoring free workshops on equity and inclusion in environmental education,
provided by Youth
Outside. We invite new grantees to these workshops to learn more about implicit bias
and best practices for increasing cultural relevancy in their programming.